I’m the only male member of our family of five. Of course, Rocky doesn’t count (Rocky’s our cat). As the only male I have the privilege of wearing a select group of hats. Not to confuse you, the type of hats I’m talking about in this instance, are the proverbial type of hats and not the baseball caps I love to wear, like the Patriots cap I have on right now. The hats I’m talking about refer to a select group of responsibilities, which the girls don’t care to perform. For instance, when something doesn’t work (hair drier, curler, computer thingy, blocked toilets, etc.) I put on my "Mr. Fixit" hat and tackle the problem.

Now some of these hats are adjustable. By this I mean, occasionally others might wear them too. An example of this may be the "Rubbish Man" hat. (Notice … When women took jobs as rubbish collectors we didn’t call them "Rubbish Women", no, all collectors became "Sanitary Engineers") Occasionally, Domenica (that’s my wife), may put out the rubbish. Some other hats that would be considered adjustable would be the "Light-bulb Changer" hat and the "Lawn Mower" hat. Now, you can figure why these two hats are mostly worn by me, can’t you? Well, one deals with electricity and the other may need to deal with … BUGS!

Sometimes, when I put on a certain hat it causes another family member to put on a hat of their own. Some of their hats … I couldn’t wear. Let’s say I put on my "Electricity" hat. Julia and Rosella (our twin daughters) automatically put on their "Nurses" hats. Also, when I put on my "Bug Killer" hat, Carla (our sixteen-year old) puts on her "Don’t come near me with that or I’ll scream" hat.

Other hats that don’t ever see the top of a female head in our house include the "Stick your hand down the disposal" hat, the "Oops! Cookie (that’s out dog) had an accident" hat and of course the "Remove the insides of the turkey" hat and the "Drop the lobster in the boiling water" hat. Some hats that you would never catch me wearing are the "Launder the delicate items" hat and the "Take a shower with the smelly pet" hat. (I didn’t say I never wore them … only that you’d never catch me.)

But today, I’m wearing one of my favorite hats, the "Master Bar-B-Q" hat. I love grilling, the hot coals, the aromas, the smoke and more smoke and more…

It’s Ok … It’s OK … As soon as I had put on my "Bar-B-Q" hat, Domenica was ready with her "Firefighter" hat, the twins had put on their "Emergency Nurses" hats and Carla was screaming and wearing her "I’ll just jump in the pool" hat.